The Brasserie

France’s streets are lined with brasseries, cozy restaurants where customers can have a coffee, a glass of wine and dessert or a light meal. But while brasseries are ubiquitous in Europe, the concept has been slow to catch on in Saskatoon. Daniel Ford Beavis wanted to change that.

“It was something that we realized we didn’t have downtown,” said Beavis. “There hasn’t been a place downtown where you can go for a dessert and a coffee — whether it’s a boozy coffee or a regular coffee — or a glass of wine. There wasn’t a lot of options out there.”

The Brasserie, which quietly opened its doors in early November, serves coffee, locally brewed beer and is one of Saskatchewan’s first restaurants to offer wine on tap — a dozen varieties, according to Beavis, who owns the restaurant with his brother Jay. The Second Avenue South café also has a light menu that includes fresh-baked desserts, crepes and salads.

Beavis designed the Brasserie to fill the gap between his other business ventures, O’Shea’s Irish Pub and the Ivy. Families with children are welcome — there’s a kids’ menu, and space for strollers — as is everyone looking for a relaxing lunch or quiet night out.

“Basically, we said, ‘We want the opposite of everything that O’Shea’s does well,” Beavis said with a laugh.

The restaurant is also home to the Brasserie Art Project, a venture Beavis launched to highlight works by emerging and established artists. The walls inside are lined with paintings, all of which are for sale, and the business takes only enough commission to cover credit card costs, he said.

“I wanted to bring together some different forms of art,” said Beavis, who is heavily involved in the Saskatoon arts community and is Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan’s fight director. “We want to have our entire walls covered with it, and more and more people are dropping stuff off every day.”

The Brasserie captures the French esthetic, but it is also the latest in a long line of local businesses. Beavis’s grandfather owned the Baldwin Hotel, a longtime Saskatoon landmark, and subsequent generations have continued investing in the city’s downtown core. But while Beavis has been doing it for years, the reception never ceases to amaze him.

“I can’t believe the people downtown that are happy to come and support a local coffee shop,” he said.

The Brasserie

Aaron Deagnon and his mother Cindy Deagnon, co-owners of Ultra R/C Hobbies, in their store on Taylor Street East.

Ultra R/C Hobbies

Aaron Deagnon has been racing radio control cars in Saskatoon for almost a decade. Earlier this month, he opened a store dedicated to the elaborate miniature vehicles, some of which can reach speeds of 100 kilometres per hour.

“It’s one of those things that I’ve been around forever,” the 22-year-old entrepreneur said with a laugh. “It’s not really a job, I guess. It’s always fun to come to work, and you get to play with toys all day.”

Deagnon’s father introduced him to the world of radio control, or R/C, racing. At first it was just a hobby, then Deagnon got a job at a local hobby store, where he spent about six years tinkering with nitro- and electric-powered R/C cars.

When that store closed, leaving the city’s R/C community without a reliable source for new R/C cars, replacement parts and advice on repairs, the way forward was obvious, he said.

“We were looking at doing it anyway, and then when (the local store) closed down, it pretty much forced our hand — either we’re going to do this or we’re not going to do it. So we pursued it a little further, and here we are today.”

After months spent coordinating with suppliers and vendors, Ultra R/C Hobbies — which Deagnon owns with his parents — opened for business Nov. 1.

Countless classes and sub-classes, including competitive racing, scale modelling, “rock crawling,” aviation and simple weekend relaxation fall under the R/C umbrella. Deagnon said the store carries something for everyone, from $40 for starter helicopters to high-end racing cars that cost $1,000 or more.

“It really depends on what you want to do,” he said.

What separates Ultra R/C Hobbies from other retail stores is Deagnon’s commitment to education. Saskatoon’s community of hardcore enthusiasts is relatively small — perhaps 3,000 people — which means introducing the wider population to the joys of R/C is important, he said.

“The more people we get into the hobby, the better it is for everyone,” he said. “That’s our biggest goal, to educate people.”

Ultra R/C Hobbies

If you have started, expanded or moved a small business in Saskatoon within the last few months, let us know by calling 657-6210 or faxing 657-6437, attention Alex MacPherson. Submissions can also be emailed to amacpherson@postmedia.com. Home-based and temporary businesses, as well as those without physical locations, will not be considered for publication.

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